Right, they are a lot less profitable since their "other expenses" have grown out of proportion with their revenues. That is the expense that has gotten out of hand.

but, again, the player salaries are by far the largest operating expense. 62%. so, where are you gonna trim?

also, as insidehoops points out, these figures are estimates by forbes and have been directly disputed by the nba, so take them with a grain of salt. however, even with these numbers, its clear why the owners would want to reduce their largest operating cost moving forward.